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Bennett, Kulikov, Mikkola Will All Play In Game 1

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When they take on the New York Rangers tonight in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Florida Panthers will have a fully healthy roster. Earlier today, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reported that Sam Bennett, Dmitry Kulikov, and Niko Mikkola skated at practice this morning, and the trio would be in the lineup this evening.

Unlike Bennett, there were no formal announcements of injuries for either Kulikov or Mikkola, although the latter left Florida’s bench with about three minutes remaining in Game 6 against the Bruins. With both players confirmed to be in the lineup for Game 1 tonight, a completely healthy defensive core for the Panthers should give the Rangers quite a bit of trouble in generating offense.

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AHL Notes: Konowalchuk, Armstrong, Forrest

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The AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds have named Steve Konowalchuk as their head coach. Konowalchuk becomes the fourth head coach in Springfield’s seven-year history, taking the torch from interim coach Daniel Tkaczuk, who took over for Drew Bannister following his promotion to the St. Louis Blues in December. Tkaczuk led the Thunderbirds to a 18-29-3 record, following Bannister’s 12-8-0 start. The Thunderbirds haven’t yet provided details on which assistant coaches Konowalchuk will retain.

Konowalchuk is best known for his years as a player, becoming a staple of the Washington Capitals lineup between 1992 and 2003. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2003-04 season and was forced to retire due to a heart condition in 2006, after missing much of the 2005-06 campaign. He returned to the team in the 2009-10 season, spending two years as an assistant coach before moving into a head coaching role with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Seattle was where Konowalchuk made his mark, leading the team to the playoffs in five seasons straight – capped off with a WHL Finals appearance and championship win respectively in his final two seasons. Konowalchuk managed an impressive list of Thunderbirds alums, including Shea Theodore, Mathew Barzal, Keegan Kolesar, and Ethan Bear. He’d move back to the NHL in the year following his 2017 WHL Championship, joining the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach for one season before returning to the WHL and then spending last season in an AHL assistant role.

Konowalchuk will now take on his biggest role yet, taking the reigns of a Springfield Thunderbirds team just two years removed from a race to the Calder Cup Finals. They’d ultimately get swept by the Chicago Wolves but have held on to their playoff hopes in the seasons since. Konowalchuk found consistent success the last time he coached a Thunderbirds roster, and could be poised for big opportunity should he find a groove again.

Other notes from around the minor leagues:

  • The Florida Panthers have signed forward Jamie Armstrong to a one-year, two-way contract. He’s expected to join the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, adding to their long list of depth forwards. Armstrong – son of Utah general manager Bill Armstrong – is coming off of his graduate year at Boston College, where he recorded 12 points in 32 games. It was his first year as an Eagle, having spent the previous four years of his collegiate career across the road with Boston University. He totaled 26 points across 84 games with Boston University, filling in as stout bottom-six depth.
  • Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach J.D. Forrest is a candidate to fill the Rochester Americans’ coaching vacancy, shares Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). Lysowski added that the Buffalo Sabres are hoping to have their AHL coach solidified prior to June’s NHL Draft. Forrest would take over for former Rochester coach Seth Appert, who was promoted to Lindy Ruff’s staff in early May. Both Forrest and Appert have deep roots in USA Hockey, with Appert previously serving as the head coach of the U.S. National Team Development program (NTDP), while Forrest is a former NTDP assistant coach and led Team USA to a Silver Medal at the 2022 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Aleksander Barkov Wins 2024 Selke Trophy

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Continuing on with the slow drip of announcing award winners from the 2023-24 regular season, the National Hockey League has announced this year’s winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, given to the player who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game. The league announced this year’s winner as captain of the Florida Panthers, Aleksander Barkov, who will win the award for the second time in his career.

Barkov, who last won the award over the 2020-21 season, will end the two-year run of former Boston Bruins captain, Patrice Bergeron. Now earning his second Selke Trophy victory, Barkov is tied with the captain of the Los Angeles Kings, Anze Kopitar, with the most Selke Trophies among active players.

There is little doubt about Barkov’s case for the win, as he has regularly been one of the league’s top defensive forwards for the last several years. This season in particular, Barkov finished with a +33 rating, a +31 takeaway-to-giveaway ratio, and kept the puck in the offensive zone 46.3% of the time at even strength, putting him in the 97th percentile in the NHL.

Although being an individual award, Barkov’s defensive capabilities are certainly boosted by the rest of his teammates on the Panthers roster, as they tied for first in the league this season with 2.41 GA/G. Not only did Barkov help Florida excel at limiting goals against, but the team finished with the third-fewest shots against, as well as sustaining the league’s sixth-best penalty kill.

Maurice: Mikkola Is Fine Despite Leaving Late In Third On Friday

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  • Although he exited Friday’s game late in the third with an undisclosed injury, Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola is fine, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including team reporter Jameson Olive. The 28-year-old plays a key role on Florida’s back end, logging over 20 minutes a night during the regular season while recording nearly 200 hits.  His playing time has dipped slightly in the playoffs but he’s still fourth in defensive ATOI, checking in at 18:30 per game.  Through the first two rounds, Mikkola has a pair of points along with 17 blocks and 33 hits.

Bruins/Panthers Notes: Marchand, Heinen, Bennett, Cousins

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One of the big moments from Friday’s third game of the Panthers-Bruins series was the hit from Sam Bennett on Brad Marchand that caused the latter to leave the game in the second period and not return.  Marchand missed practice today with TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie noting (Twitter links) that the captain is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and that winger Danton Heinen could take his place in the lineup as it appears he could be ready to return.

Heinen has missed the last four games with an undisclosed injury sustained during the first round against Toronto.  He had 17 goals and 19 assists in 74 games during the regular season – great value for a league minimum contract – and provided the type of depth scoring that Boston has been lacking in recent games.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski adds that Bennett will not face any supplementary discipline for the hit.  Head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters that he didn’t see things the way the league did:

There’s a history there with Bennett. There’s clearly evidence of what went on. People can say it wasn’t intentional. We have our view of it.

Bennett had made his series debut after returning from an upper-body injury in the second game of their opening-round series against Tampa Bay and picked up an assist in a little under 13 minutes of action.  Montgomery clarified that the history he referenced with Bennett in his comment wasn’t solely with Marchand but rather with those types of hits in general.

Meanwhile, Bennett’s return resulted in Nick Cousins being dropped from the lineup.  Panthers head coach Paul Maurice told reporters including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald that the decision to scratch Cousins wasn’t performance-related but rather wanting some extra coverage at center if Bennett wasn’t able to make it through the game which helped keep Steven Lorentz – who can play down the middle when called upon – in the lineup on the fourth line, a group that has had some success in the series so far.

Albert Wikman Loaned To Sodertalje

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  • Panthers prospect Albert Wikman has been loaned to Sodertalje in Sweden’s Allsvenskan for next season, per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 19-year-old blueliner was a fourth-round pick last June, going 127th overall.  Wikman spent most of this season playing in Farjestad’s junior system, notching 20 points in 45 games while also making a pair of SHL and Allsvenskan appearances.  While still eligible to play at the junior level, it appears the determination has been made to have him play a full professional campaign at the second-tier level to aid in his development.

Snapshots: Team Sweden, Bennett, Kuzmenko

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Team Sweden named their leadership group for the 2024 IIHF World Championship ahead of their opening game on Friday (Twitter link). Long-time Swedish star Erik Karlsson will serve as the team’s captain, flanked by Victor Hedman and Lucas Raymond as assistant captains.

Karlsson is taking on a significant leadership role in his first appearance with Sweden since the 2017 World Cup. And while he wore an ‘A’ with Sweden in that tournament, this news marks his first time wearing the ’C’ with his home country. Karlsson is no stranger to leadership, having served as the Ottawa Senators captain from 2014 to 2018. He’s also no secret to international hockey, with 23 points across 28 games with Sweden’s Men’s team, including appearances at the World Championship, World Cup, and Olympics.

Sweden won their first contest of the 2024 Worlds, beating Team USA 5-2 thanks to a three-point performance from Joel Eriksson Ek and 28 saves from Filip Gustavsson. They’ll look to maintain the confident start through the rest of the tourney, chasing their first Gold Medal win since 2018.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Florida Panthers welcomed forward Sam Bennett back to the lineup on Friday (Twitter link). It was his first game since suffering an upper-body injury in Game 2 of Round 1. Bennett recorded a primary assist on Florida’s second goal of the matchup, stepping right back into his role alternating with Anton Lundell. Nick Cousins stepped out of the lineup to make room for Bennett. Cousins has appeared in seven games this postseason, recording one assist and 20 penalty minutes. Bennett offers a big boost to a Florida lineup that’s gone blow-for-blow with the Boston Bruins. He was a major piece of their success last spring, posting 15 points in 20 postseason games.
  • Calgary Flames winger Andrei Kuzmenko has changed agencies, now represented by Newport Sports. The swap was first reported by former Sportsnet reporter Irfaan Gaffar, and seconded by Ryan Pike of Flames Nation (Twitter link). Kuzmenko will now be represented by the same management company as Robert Thomas, Vasily Podkolzin, and Tomas Hertl. He leaves Gold Star Agency, where he was notoriously represented by Daniel Milstein, who served a role in Kuzmenko’s swap from the Vancouver Canucks to the Flames. Kuzmenko found a strong scoring groove in Calgary, netting 25 points in 24 games, and should be poised for a top role next season.

Sam Bennett Is A Game-Time Decision For Game 3

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Boston Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke is available to return to the lineup tonight after missing the last two and a half weeks with a finger injury (via Conor Ryan of Boston.com). The 26-year-old hasn’t played since Game 2 of the Bruins first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and played just 38 games in the regular season. Peeke dressed in 15 games for the Bruins down the stretch tallying just two assists. He finished the regular season with a single goal and nine assists in 38 games and saw his average ice time for the season drop by almost five full minutes.

Boston acquired Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Jakub Zboril and a 2027 third-round pick. Zboril was a former first-round pick of the Bruins who was selected during Boston’s disastrous 2015 draft.

No word yet on who Peeke could replace if he does dress for Game 3.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters that forward Danton Heinen remains day-to-day with an undisclosed injury (via Conor Ryan). Heinen has missed four consecutive games and hasn’t scored a goal since April 13th, a span of seven games. The 28-year-old bounced back this year in Boston after a down year with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Heinen posted 17 goals and 19 assists in 74 games after signing a one-year, $775K contract on October 30th. When Heinen is ready to return, his spot in the lineup may not be guaranteed after the emergence of young forward Justin Brazeau who has made an impression the past few weeks.
  • Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett will be a game-time decision tonight for Game 3 against the Bruins. The Holland Landing, Ontario native hasn’t played since April 23rd when he took a Brandon Montour shot off his left hand in the Panthers’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bennett would be a big boost for the Panthers after he posted 20 goals and 21 assists in 69 games during the regular season. Besides the boost to their depth scoring, Bennett would also add a physical element to the Panthers lineup should he return, something that Florida would certainly welcome after the theatrics of Game 2.

Snapshots: AHL, Bennett, Lekkerimaki

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The AHL will remain under stable leadership for next season and beyond. Current league president and CEO Scott Howson was on an expiring contract entering next season, but the AHL’s Board of Governors announced today that he’s agreed to a multi-year extension.

Before assuming his current role in 2020, the 64-year-old Howson was a mainstay in NHL front offices. Nearly a decade after his brief playing career concluded in 1986, Howson was appointed as the general manager of the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, then in Cape Breton, in 1994. He continued in the role when Edmonton reached an affiliation agreement with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 1996, and he was eventually promoted to an AGM role with the Oilers’ NHL staff in 2000.

He got his first shot as an NHL GM after helping construct the Edmonton squad that reached the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, signing on as the Blue Jackets’ GM for 2007-08. He lasted there for more than five seasons until he was fired shortly into the lockout-constricted 2012-13 season. Howson then immediately returned to Edmonton as a pro scout and eventually became their director of player development in 2017 before leaving for his AHL president/CEO role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other news and notes from around hockey:

  • Panthers forward Sam Bennett remains out for Game 2 against the Bruins tonight as Florida looks to tie the series. But the top-six center may not miss much more time with his upper-body injury and could return when the series shifts to Boston for Games 3 and 4, per The Hockey News’ David Dwork. Bennett, 27, had a goal and assist against the Lightning in the first round before leaving with injury partway through Game 2. He’s now missed more than two weeks of action but has officially been upgraded to day-to-day.
  • Canucks top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki is back with AHL Abbotsford for their playoff run, the team confirmed today. Lekkerimäki, 19, was assigned to Abbotsford in March to make his North American professional debut but was loaned to the Swedish national team in mid-April in advance of the 2024 World Championship. He didn’t make the cut for the final roster, though, and will suit up in a must-win Game 3 tonight against the Ontario Reign to keep their season alive. The 2022 first-round pick had a goal and an assist for Abbotsford during his earlier brief stint.

Panthers’ Jack Devine Returning To University Of Denver

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The Panthers will have to wait until next year to see right wing prospect Jack Devine turn pro. The University of Denver announced Wednesday that the 20-year-old is returning for his senior season in 2024-25.

Devine slipped to the late seventh round in 2022, where Florida happily picked him up with the 221st overall pick. A few public scouts expected him to go closer to the midway point of the draft after a solid freshman season at Denver, but the October-born forward garnered less interest than expected.

Not only has he outpaced his actual billing over the last two years, but he’s likely worked his way up to first- or second-round status in an early redraft. Devine’s collegiate resume was made more impressive this year with a second NCAA championship, but his individual stat sheet in his junior year was quite impressive, too. He was easily the Pioneers’ best player, leading them in scoring with 27 goals and 56 points in 44 games with a +29 rating. That showing earned him a nomination for the Hobey Baker Award for the top player in collegiate hockey, as well as First All-American honors for the NCAA’s West Region.

The Illinois native will now likely join the Panthers on an entry-level contract as soon as his senior season ends, assuming he intends to sign with Florida and not test free agency. The Cats will likely burn the first year of his ELC in 2024-25, allowing him to make his NHL debut down the stretch of the regular season or in the playoffs. Devine was ranked fifth in the Panthers’ prospect system by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler in February.

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